December 28, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the rainy, windy and rather mild island of Nantucket! Great to be with you and yours on this 28th day of December, 2014, hoping that everyone out in the land had a nice Christmas, Hanukkah or ye ‘ole Festivis for the rest of US– many probably eating a McDonald’s hamburger for their holiday meal or just putting one together via the local food bank..

It has been quite a year–2014–and you are almost no more, alas we only just got to know ye! It began with U.S. President Barack Obama stating loud and clear that ‘this would be the year for ACTION’, believing there may just be some ‘bipartisan’ agreement that this year of 2014 has been nothing but that verb known to all who live and breathe on this little blue rock we all call home for a moment.

Yes, at times it seemed like the world was spinning off it’s axis. There was that overused manipulation of FEAR by corporate media (to boost ratings by chance?), that helped with the hysteria of events that again, seemed to be cataclysmic (taking our minds off of what IS, i.e. Global Warming), such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, culminating in a ‘Chicken Little sky is falling’ overture by FOX and other corporate bull horns. The only case that ended in a U.S. casualty from the disease came in the form of a POOR Liberian man, Mr. Duncan, who had just got off the plane in Dallas, where he was about to be married. Seeing that he was POOR, the hospital gave him two aspirins and instructed him ‘to call them in the morning’ if it got worse. It did. But to those who had top shelf care, the heroic efforts of health care workers for example, they were spared, taking that dreaded dis-EASE and putting it on a shelf to be used another day–’ye ‘ole fear mongering of ‘yore, matey, by whomever needs to use it for whatever purposes corporate media moguls wish to use it for, mostly to manipulate ignorant, fat, lazy Americans who have already pledged alliance to the NRA and the United States ofExxonMobil.

ISIL–the vicious group of maniacal, jihad killers in the Middle Eastern countries of Iraq and Syria, spilling over into some other areas as well–created a fire storm over the summer, with many fearing another 9/11 style attack. The whole of ‘hard fought victories’ in Iraq gone, with that territory now under control of this so called Caliphate, or new Islamic State that harkens back to the days of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. Turning the whole of Syria into just that, a big pile of rock, rubble and dust, with that country’s people fleeing by the millions, leaving a giant hole where there was once life. This too was overplayed by the media, and with the constant flow of video of the horrible be-headings of U.S. and Ally citizens. None so high profile as that of one American journalist James Foley (along with several others killed, in highly publicized, high profile killings, slick social media hype by the killers designed to strike fear in the hearts of people in the West, recruit young, disillusioned youth world wide, as well as dissuading journalists from doing their jobs), overplayed because that is what this radical new jihadist group wanted most--media exposure!

The midterm elections were this year, lest we forget, and what fun that was! Yes? No, it wasn’t. Although it turned out well for Republicans, for they won back control of the U.S. Senate, adding to their already solid majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mitch, “the mouse”, McConnell is now, by default, the new so called ‘leader’ of the U.S. Senate, sorry I think I just spit something up there, what is that Kale?, where was I? Ah, leader McConnell, you have a drink with that guy, says the President and man! Cheers! I am sure he is still thinking that same sentiment as he enjoys some beach time in Hawaii.

For all of that darkness that we ‘consumed’ over the course of a year that almost was, 2014, (via our I-phones, tablets, TV’s, computers, satellites, or whatever else you may be using ‘to get your news’), over that long, dusty, dirty and dangerous course of these past 12 months, there were three distinct rays of LIGHT that made all of that just kind of ‘go away’… One, a giant deal brokered by Obama and China over the climate. A climate that Sea Cape Cod has spoken of from ‘time to time’…

A climate that will–if we don’t act soon on reducing OUR spewing of Carbon Dioxide, Methane and other green house gases into the atmosphere–change radically very soon, with effects already being felt world wide even as I write these words. It was ten years ago yesterday when a Tsunami crushed Indonesia and 14 other counties with giant waves that killed over 200,000 people, prompting questions about the safety of people living too close to an ocean that is only rising (the actual SEA level), because the WE are making the earth warmer. Green house gasses like a blanket around the earth, as the polar ice caps melt, polar bears go to Heaven and the mass migrations begin in earnest. All while oil and gas company’s continue making record profits, PROFIT over people… Although THAT will change quickly as the people of planet earth begin to wake up to the FACT we are not going to have a planet to ’spend money in’ if it does not exist. Comprende?

The second ray of sun light came from putting an end to a stupid 50 year old embargo of a beautiful country 90 miles off the coast of Florida--Cuba! Normalizing relations with that island nation will put and end to the decades long ‘Cold War’ for good, even as Russia counties rattling a saber–Vladimir Putin’s regime under pressure as his economic ‘plan’ falls victim to intense and crippling sanctions imposed by the U.S. and her allies for Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, legally still part of Ukraine. For as a ‘gas station economy’ goes, Russia has no real relief ahead with gas prices continuing to fall, putting the quasi-kleptocrat in a rather odd position. Eventually exposing himself to what he has done, like Fox “news” in this country, the willful act of pulling the wool over the Russian people’s eyes about well, anything of substance. And when it comes to his activities for “Mother Russia” and all, not really for the vast majority of Russian peoples…

The third ray of light came in the form of ACTION on the growing U.S. problem of immigration. a problem you might think we would have a pretty good handle on by now, seeing that we are a nation of immigrants, some German/Irish, some African-American, some Asian-American, but all American by gosh, by golly! The ‘action’ that got such an uproar in Washington (action was taken by President Obama just before Thanksgiving), is really quite simple and quite HUMANE! It gives protection from deportation and a temporary work permit to over 5 million undocumented (and very dangerous illegal aliens!) people living in this country, effectively living under the shadows. People living lives in fear that they, their mom, their dad, their sister, or their brother would be deported, thus breaking up the family unit and for what? A few bloviated political points Mitch and John? This overdue move by Obama was long over due and a great Christmas present that starts the ball rolling for a more permanent and comprehensive immigration bill that will tackle this issue once and for all. WE don’t need more security ‘on the border’ (according to people working the border!), and we don’t need more laws that keep families apart, making it hard for them to eek out a living.

The very smart, brave and human action taken by ourvery fine President Barack Obama is just getting warmed up. For he is NOT your lame duck president, no sir! Like he said, “…I am not going to waste a minute in these next two years getting things done for the American people,” and I believe him. It is quite clear to anyone with eyes that the much of OUR “system”, such as the U.S. JUSTICE system, is rigged in favor of the white, wealthy majority and that must change if we plan to keep this country a democracy with a little letter ‘d’. The killings of mostly poor, African-American males under 30 in this nation by police will be addressed in the coming months via the President’s task force whose report is due out soon, and will outline what MUST be done to keep these horrible crimes to a minimum. Making sure that what happened to Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner, (as well as the NYPD officers killed in the line of duty, may they rest in peace), does not happen again.

‘Creating a more perfect Union’ begins at the grass roots level, therefore there again must be some kind of peace between peace officers and black youth across this great land of OURS. A black youth who are disenfranchised and disillusioned by a future America that does not seem to include them, in fact, an America that goes out of it’s way (society) to shun these young men. Young men who are just as human and just as worthy of LOVE, LIGHT and DIVINITY as you or I.

So, on a rather wet day here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront, I bid you a fine and fair adieu! May you and yours enjoy the last days of 2014, and “Welcome in 2015″ with a bang! I pray that it is a “kinder, gentler” (credit George H.W. Bush, get well sir!), year for US all, hoping against hope that this new Republican majority has learned some lessons from their witch hunts with Benghazi, “Obamacare”, the IRS, and any number of other ‘outrages’ this ‘Emperor’, the KING OBAMA, has wrought upon an unsuspecting nation, none so bad as his caring action on immigration that kept millions of kids in their mom and dad’s loving arms on Christmas Day!…what could be more wonderful than that? So put your egos on hold 114th U.S. Congress and roll up your collective sleeves, consider actually getting something done for the average American for a change! As opposed to what you were hired to do…doing the bidding for special interest/corporate agendas that are kept in the dark and sprung upon ‘the American people’, via hidden quietly in “must pass” appropriations bills no one is paying attention to ‘this time of year’, thus leaving a giant risk unattended on Wall Street’s dark cavern…

Leaving no one living on that spooky and secretive street losing any sleep’, for they know ‘they are too big to fail’ and if anything goes wrong with their little “credit default swaps” in this new and improved casino called Wall Street, those ‘American people’ the GOP keeps talking about as if they really cared about said “American people”, will bail them out once again, even as they lose trillions (once again) in their collective 401(k)’s. All while the rich get richer and richer, the .0001 percent baby! As the Dow Jones Industrial hitting new highs yesterday, all time highs of 18,054! And the GDP, meaning almost nothing to the average American any more, hitting a healthy 5 percent! Who is the President right now Mitch? That’s right, and don’t you forget it! Gas prices below 2 bucks? Give it up for President Barack Obama Man! He is the man!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

PRESERVE THAT WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 25, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the rain, windy island of Nantucket! Merry Christmas to one and all, keeping perhaps this unknown poem of ‘yore part of a kind of ‘road map’ for the next century or two…hope you all have a great day and rest of the holiday season!

Desiderata

‘Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there maybe in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you become vain and bitter; for their will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for all the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond and wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees or the stars;you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life,

keep pace with your soul.

With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be careful.

Strive to be happy.

~Unknown

Happy New Year!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 24, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the dark and stormy; brightly lit island of Nantucket! Great to be with ye on this holy night in most of the world, Christmas Eve, the night before Jesus was born roughly 2014 years ago? Not really quite sure on the math, nor is anyone else really, but what the hey, it’s Christmas Eve!

And a Happy and Merry Christmas to you and yours, even if you don’t celebrate it, perhaps opting for ‘A Festivis for the rest of us’, via an old Seinfeld reference that I am sure we are all quite tired of by now.

Whatever one’s belief, or complete absence of one to begin with, or maybe that ‘void’ is a recent thing, whatever ‘it’ is, one thing is for sure–the reality of a season, be it Christmas, Hanaka, or any number of other faiths that value love, family, joy and peace as much as ‘the rest of us’, like the one we are in right now–seems to bring out the best in people. (or the worst in people, to wit you have the power to avoid and completely disregard as the insanity that ‘it’ is after all).

Giving a person a smile as opposed to a frown. Opening a door instead of closing one in anger. Sending a card when you could have sent an email instead. Making ‘time’ by giving someone yours unconditionally. Turning that time into LOVE. More than just a sentiment, a Force, that travels faster than the speed of light to the power of infinity, brighter than a thousand suns…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sea Cape Cod everybody!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 23, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the rainy, raw, windy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 23rd day of December, just about time for Santa to come down the chimney, but, hey, hold on a moment! It’s also Hanuka! “The Season of Lights”–(p.s. “full disclosure”, did I say that right?, I and all of the people I know, give thanks, praise and above all full and honored credit for possibly illegally using CBS’ image of candle seen by above on what I assume is an image of a CBS owned TV, I hope you don’t mind, thanks a bunch CBS, you’re the best!)–where a candle is lit as a symbol of a miracle that happened a long, long time ago, it’s a long story that someone better than a one time summer camp counselor at Camp Tel Noar in New Hampshire, lifeguard, bike instructor/guide, can tell you! I believe it’s something about a candle that never really went out, a true symbol of gratitude and the fact miracles happen everyday; it’s just that many of us, including this reporter, miss so many of them along this journey we call LIFE, one we all take together and get to share in, hopefully not too consumed by the glow of the fake light of an I pad, I pod, I am?

Yes, that’s right ‘all ye merry gentlemen it’s Hanaka once again, or nearing the end of it for this year anyway…Perhaps not a holiday that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or James Madison celebrated, but would have , as they truly embraced the notion of religious freedom and the freedom of peaceful expression of said religious convictions. Yes, Hanaka...a celebration of eight days of gift giving, thanks and celebration for all of the bounty we truly have in this beautiful world we all share as one race…the human race. (although, some have a whole lot more than others, so to those I hope there is bounty as well)

The weather is stormy across the northern parts of the United States this Tuesday morning, as busy traffic streams past my office window here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront. The lights of this village, as well as the rest of villages, towns, suburbs and cities, not only in Massachusetts, but Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, all six New England states, really do Christmas up right. I mean, take Nantucket’s Christmas Stroll every year as an example of greatness. Norman Rockwell in 2014, would still have been a very busy painter to be sure; a rather odd and almost divine perspective on small town life. An eye comprehending just how beautiful this country, indeed it’s people, really are. From the dogs and cats, children and old style garb, harkens one back to the days when things were just a little less complicated, less fraught with anger, rage, doubt, pity, outrage, injustice, more injustice, revenge, violence, oppression, suppression, ah, the list goes on ad infinite.

However, there is a word that we all want to embrace with all of our collective hearts, and that word is peace. May ALL victims of violence, whomever, wherever, or whatever they are, may those who have been wronged be healed, be somehow given the light you see above and in that light be at peace with the Force that isLOVE.

Forgiveness is a hard nut to crack, I know, but I hope this Nation, and the good people who live in it, find it in their hearts to forgive their ‘enemies’; because in and by doing that, you not only set yourself free, you free them as well. Kind of a win-win. A Happy Holiday for everyone concerned…

Have a nice day!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 22, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the partly sunny, showery, mild island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Monday morning, the 22nd day of December, 2014. A bright early morning here on Cape, the calm before the storm as it were, and I just thought I might just add a little holiday cheer (or maybe not) to your hopefully shortened work week, seeing that it is Christmas on Thursday after all–I’m looking at you Walmart! Walmart, “always slave wages” who make our employees work every holiday known to mankind! Blessings to all the Walton Family! Cheers!

That’s right folks, it’s America’s favorite family, ‘The Waltons’? If only it were that TV family of yesteryear (1970’s), as opposed to the richest family in America today and most scrooge like corporation this world may have ever seen, save ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, Chevron, IBM, ah, the list is as long as the hundreds of college bowl games named after these ‘kind’ and ‘generous‘ organizations that are hell bent on making as much money as they can, giving very little back to the community of employees they that nickle and dime to death everyday…

“Hey Michael, where’s the Christmas spirit? You had yesterday, filled with love and compassion?” I don’t know, if you find it let me know. I suppose I am sad that one of my favorite people on the planet earth, entertainer that is, Craig Ferguson, former host of the “Late, Late, Show” (on CBS), had his last show on Friday night, well at least it aired on Friday, with a great song sung by his many friends in the Hollywood scene. “Beat you own drum” was the theme as my favorite “fake” horse, robot and Rhino, band (that exists only on a digital board) and a host that reminds me of my days living in Great Britain, where I spent a lot my time in Edinburgh. where as we all know by now, “…if it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!” It is the year of the horse, and good luck to that whole cast and crew and I hope that horse of Craig’s is put on to pasture with some really nice looking fillies in say Kentucky; stocked to the brim with premium oats, fertile blue grass and clean drinking water. Far, far away from any of mankind’s folly of fracking our way into destroying God’s green earth–namely our vital, precious and irreplaceable WATER supply!

This new 114th Congress that will roll on into Washington D.C. in a few weeks will most likely be a JOKE, just like the 113th. And why wouldn’t it be? Nothing has changed in this coming plutocratic takeover of OUR democracy with that little letter ‘d’! Republicans (who work for billionaires vowing to become Oligarchs like those living in Vladimir Country(s)), have no plans in helping out the nearly 315 million people now living in this torn country. A country that has seemingly lost it’s way, for the word Capitalism has overtaken most people’s souls, i.e. black Friday and the like, never understanding that rampant GREED and EGO have no place in public service–many with those with an “R” next to their name, no good in the slightest.

The only time one truly receives LOVE is when it is given freely—without some political ‘Angle’.

The Grinch will rear his ugly head in this new U.S. Congress come January 2015, mark my words, and without the help of great U.S. Senators’ like Massachusetts Senator extraordinaire, Elizabeth Warren to break us out of our collective stupor, such as allowing big banks to do the same thing again (using YOUR money to bet against you on risky ventures called ‘credit default swaps”--still going on like gang busters on Wall Street– ‘derivatives’ some call them (the REASON for the big crash that hurt so many people–to the tune of trillions lost in American family 401(k)’s)–big banks will now KNOWINGLY (because they know they will be bailed out again because they are deemed ‘too big to fail’), continue to gamble with YOUR money and, like they did in 2000?-2008, perhaps once again CRASH the whole of the U.S. and world economies. Hurting them not in the slightest, not at all, only billions of the ‘little’ people (the 99 percent!), while they make billions, lo, trillions of dollars from your misfortune of TRUSTING a Republican in this 21st Century America. It’s your choice people, not mine, but do you really want to see them get away with it again?

If that happened again, taking this country back to those dark days of Bush and Cheney, taking us back to fear mongering and blatant financial criminality to wit NO bank executive went to jail! Holding America hostage once again almost to the point of no return if the American tax payer did not bail them all out. When that happens again, WE, the ‘little people’, will once again be on the hook for their GREED, and like Dr. Seuss’ the “Grinch”, could not give a rats ass about it. Laughing all the way to the bank they OWN, getting 0 percent interest to ‘rebuild the house of cards once again’, while giving Mr. and Mrs. America a loan at say 20 percent? Sounds like a loan shark deal to me old Mitt buddy. “…old pal of mine from the ‘Bailey Savings and Loan’, I mean BANE Capital! (not misspelling by the way)… I just love this Corporation that hurts the little people so much, while it touts itself as a person…I’m giving the BANE some of my plasma for Christmas, how ‘about you?

As the now all white, I mean all Republican and mostly male U.S. Congress attempts to bully our very fine President Barack Obama, in the coming year–who is presently enjoying a well DESERVED vacation in Hawaii–I hope they take a good long look in the mirror and ask the question, “…what do Ireally stand for?”. Or, better yet, am I really a Christian or just a big, fat hypocrite of the highest order? A vacation from this grouping of men and women (puppets with strings), will be a blessing and I pray he gets some R&R by gosh, by golly! I mean come on! A break from these tiny minded wipers of other people’s bottoms’, men and women who work for U.S. plutocrats at present. Mental patients some, or what they like to be called, ‘members of Congress’, ladies and gentlemen of the U.S. Senate who have gone out of their way to make sure the wealthiest among US, the top .001 percent, the only reason for their job and/or existence on planet earth. Lying to themselves and their constituents of the 80’s voodoo economics of the ghost of former President Ronald Reagan’s trickle down theory that was nonsense to begin with save some of that ‘trickling down’ to the top say 10 percent if they’re lucky and really good at kissing someone’s behind. Yes, as the President enjoys some golf, surfing, hiking, and perhaps reading a good book or viewing some great movies that Hollywood does not seem to make any more, such as Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, starring the late, greats, Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart, I hope he and his family find some peace and serenity in world that has seemingly gone quite mad indeed…

Yes, perhaps this very good man–history books, the real ones, will prove–may just take a break from Sony Pictures for a while and let the rats handle this one… For although their lawyers took a rather mouse like approach because of $ fears, perhaps losing billions in now far more important markets of China and the like, always about the bottom line in America eh?, so who really cares? If they take out the Kennedy Memorial (God Forbid) let me know, I will sign up and fight in a heart beat!

So take a break from said Republican a$$holes in D.C., you know who you are deep down in your bones!, they’ll be there when you get back! Take a break from the fence jumpers, and a Secret Service that needs a big overhaul. Take a break from Vladimir Putin and his giant EGO. Take a break from the well, let’s just say the INSANITY that now defines Washington, D.C., where it is now all too clear that we live in two separate countries. One that caters to mostly white, affluent Americans, and one that does not. I mean that, so much so they are not even invited into that previous sentence. Nor will most of them ever know that TRUTH because many don’t even have water (see Detroit), let alone broadband Internet access. The big providers attempting to keep America as much in the dark as possible, so there is not a revolution or a transfer of wealth like there is right now in the U.S. with the deregulation of the energy sector…i.e. ‘natural gas’ and other drilling practices that are wiping out species after species!!! SHAME on YOU ALL!

My only wish for Christmas besides world peace, is a world awakened to the fact we are all in this together. Waking up to the FACT the planet is melting at an exponential pace all due to our own ignorance/stupidity/GREED, as we allow these monstrous oil and gas international conglomerates to destroy planet earth for their PROFIT! Not only in this next generation, but for every future generation that comes after it. A corporate takeover resulting in greed even Jesus would blush at. A ‘mission statement’ from hell that Alfred Hitchcock could not have written any better. A corporate agenda of all out greed, coupled with a political coup that will kill every living creature in it’s path (it already is as 50 percent of plant/animal species have gone extinct in the past 40 years due only to MAN), before all is said and done.

IF WE DON’T FIGHT BACK!

“…I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…”, so am I Bing Crosby, so am I! God Bless you all and have a nice Christmas if I don’t SEA you before that. And even if you don’t believe in some supreme intelligence, GOD if you will; he may just believe in you! We will all miss you Craig Ferguson, you drunken donkey! and most of all, I will miss the horse! God Bless US EVERYONE! Even you Charles and David Koch!

May you think long and hard about what your grand kids world (environment) will look like fifty years from this ChristmasDAY!….

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 21, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cool, cloudy. gracefully illuminated island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Saturday morning on Cape, the 21st day of December, 2014–a quiet start to the day here on this little sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age. Although with the forecast ‘in these here parts’ (and most of the country), travelers now educating themselves presently about the fact that weather is about to change–in a big way. Two major storm systems are going to impact holiday travel, one of the Pacific Northwest variety, six inches in Seattle for example (as we speak), while a deep upper level low (creating major weather events), will bring a white Christmas to the good folks in the Midwest, while the much of the eastern seaboard, especially the Cape & Islands, expecting torrential downpours and strong winds on Christmas Eve… So I hope Santa packed his Patagonia and Timberland boots, or is it L.L. Bean “mighty duck” foul weather footwear and a nice North Face parka?…

You be the judge!

Yesterday, late afternoon, in New York City (Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant District), a man armed with a gun walked up to a squad car and killed two of New York City’s finest–“assassinated”, shot in the head, executed (words Police Chief/NYPD), in cold blood–truly good men, good policemen just doing their job. A real tragedy that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that again, ‘…two wrongs don’t make a right’.

The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio condemned the act of senseless violence (even when the police turned their collective backs on a man just trying to make his city whole again). So did the many black family members whose children were also victims of violence by the police no less. The very definition of empathy and forgiveness finally coming forward to quell the ongoing chasm between law enforcement and black community at large. The murder condemned by most of the African-American community across the Nation as well, not to mention so many great and prominent black leaders in America today, such as Reverend Al Sharpton here in New York and Reverend Barber (NAACP; North Carolina), calling the act “unspeakable” and “abhorrent”. Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s families echoing that sentiment. Lo, all who have a heart, an ounce on humanity and simple common decency doing the same, as we all know by now, I will state again, that two wrongs do not make a right. May Divine Grace be with those slain officer’s families–especially that 13 year old boy who lost his Dad–devastated by the fact his father will never again be coming home from his shift. Keeping us ever aware of the fact MOST officers sworn to “protect and serve” do just that, some in an extraordinary way, like the Seattle police officers Sea Cape Cod spoke of a few months back.

Just like Eric Garner’s wife will not be seeing her husband for Christmas, or little Tamir Rice’s mother, or that mother who spoke about that horrible hanging that took place recently in the heart of the country that got little to NO press; a modern day lynching that most of the press and police have ignored to this point; save the F.B.I.. May they find out the TRUTH from those responsible for yet another crime against humanity, a modern day lynching by what appears to a a very disturbed racist community. In this day and age of the video camera at everyone’s disposal, we are all movie stars, directors, producers, actors, techies, and vulnerable to that spotlight on OUR behavior towards our fellow man–who might just turn out to be not your ‘enemy’, rather your friend in the end.

The question all are asking this holiday season is simply, “…when does all of this madness stop?”. When does a big mouth ‘leader’ of the police union for the NYPD just shut his big yapper–his belligerent, ignorant and I am sure racist makeup and voice is “not helping” matters. In fact, they are inflaming them, making them much worse. As he said yesterday at a big press conference in New York, and I quote, “the death and blood of these two officers leads to the steps of City Hall and to the Mayor himself.” A real piece of work that Patrick Lynch.

It’s Christmas people!

However, that did not stop the continued protests against what has become an epidemic of anti-police bullying and harassment, violence and coverup against mostly poor minority communities. Shutting down that “Largest Mall in America” for all intents and purposes yesterday for example. People once again taking sides. Siding against “I can’t breathe” tee-shirts, opting instead for shirts, wristbands and the like all reading, “I can breathe” (tee-shirts worn by police?, to combat the vast majority opinion in the U.S.? Smart, very smart!), good for you! I just wish I could say the same for Eric Garner, Tamir Rice or Michael Brown.

The police union in New York on the side of indifference to what is really going on in our American society in this late year of 2014, claiming they ‘couldn’t get all their shopping done’, and ‘it disrupted the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree…”: really? Is that all you have to say in what will turn out to be the beginning of a giant spotlight put on policing in this 21st Century split (haves and have nots) America?

Stay tuned, moreover, informed/educated by credible non-biased sources (such as the programming Sea Cape Cod suggested in previous ‘blogs’), and for God’s sakes, not FOX “News”. Making up one’s own mind about this growing problem of a “US v. them” mentality is disturbing to say the least. However, in reality, the real reality, we are ALL NOW connected in the world of social media and truly one collective soul experiencing this life subjectively. We should be LIVING every moment of this blessed season of LOVE, LIGHT and DIVINITY in our hearts, minds and souls. Forgiving the past and embracing the future. One that can be attained in this country if there is a shift in conscienceness from hate to LOVE, one we could SEA in our lifetimes if you all pull together as a team, a team of loving human beings not hell bent on killing one another. The choice, FREE WILL, is up to you.

It is up to us, individually, to hate, or to love. No one else can make that decision for you. Hate hurts not only it’s victims, but hurts it’s perpetrator much more in the ‘end’. Not one person on this planet has lost any of those traits, those God given eternal blessings from above and forever. Tragically, most of that is hidden and stored away for a variety of reasons only you can truly know. Thus, we should all act accordingly–offering KINDNESS to strangers…remembering words stated by the man whose birthday we are celebrating in a few hours, ‘When someone asks for your coat, offer him your tunic as well…”.

The gift of giving LOVE to those in need, such as the simple act of giving a blanket, a sandwich or some crumpled up dollar bills you may have in you pocket to a homeless person is a good start (not being so high and mighty as to say to those you don’t give anything to (and have NOTHING but despair and desolation in their ‘lives’), “get a job!” or my favorite, “they will only spend it on booze or drugs”, perhaps the only Christmas relief they may get in a life that may not last for much longer, many homeless freezing to death or dying of malnutrion or a myriad of diseases that are wrought upon them because they live on the street and lack health care or love of any kind, only cold sarcasm and snark from men in 1000 dollar suits! Good luck in the after life with that one Mr. Goldman Sachs!

You never know just how far that act of random KINDNESS will take you, but more to the point–THEM. That ‘them’ that could be YOU someday, remembering that it truly is, at least for this cowboy, “…but for the Grace of God go I”. Grace and whatever you perceive ‘God’ to be; a POWER much greater than “me” or you MItt!

Arrogance is ugly; Humility is beautiful, desired by both receiver and recipient equally…

There is no, “at the end of the day”, ‘an us and them’, no sir! Only one human race, one Collective Conscience, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not money that makes the world go round, rather LOVE.

LOVE, after all, was BORN on Christmas Day!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those slain officers families as well as the families suffering through these painful holidays without their loved ones’ who were also gunned down brutally. May the spirit of forgiveness and mercy follow you and yours the rest of your days, bringing your peace and perhaps JOY someday. It is what your fallen family members would have wanted for you and any other victim out there in this rather insane world we are all living in now. Catching glimpses though, from ‘time’ to ‘time’, of heroism, charity, mercy, kindness and above all LOVE.

Have a wonderful Sunday and “May the Force Be with You” all. A Force (LOVE) that our friend Jesus–whom this whole season of Christmas is based upon, stated over 2000 years ago will, if you allow it, transform your hate back into that natural state aforementioned. And if you give that LOVE away, it only multiplies exponentially across the unseen universe we all really live in. Take care and be well my friends, be WELL!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 19, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cool, partly cloudy and festive island of Nantucket! Great to be with you early on a Friday morning, the 19th day of December, 2014. A good day to be alive on this wonderful planet of ours wouldn’t you agree?

There is never a dull moment, that I will give you. If you can handle all of the deceit, political horse hockey, racial tensions, economic inequality, rigged systems, global warming, and the occasional international hack of a major motion picture operation, well, you are doing just fine young lad, just fine. Who said 24 hour cable news would be easy?

The whole world, it seems, has gone quite mad. No one really knowing what the hell they are doing, including this reporter, just ‘phoning it in’ today, as I feel like being entertained all of a sudden at this five a.m. hour (only fifteen minutes ’till “Morning Joe”, only on MSNBC!). That’s right, this ‘Free Bird’ (credit Ari Melber, co-host of “The Cycle”, weekdays at three p.m. sharp), has had his fill of 24/7 coverage of the historic lifting of isolation and embargo on that poor island nation of Cuba, our neighbor 90 miles south of Florida. ‘May the force be with those islanders whose cars harken back to another era in this country–the 1950’s. A time of relative peace and stability in the world–we all remember the great U.S. President Eisenhower don’t we?, McFly?–none so much as right here in the good ‘ole US of A.

Even with all of it’s social insanity, gender/racial repression, i.e. “Mad Men”, art imitating life, showcasing some of the very worst character flaws in the American male makeup, and rather backward political thinking by the ‘powers that were’, e.g. ‘The Red Scare’, McCarthy and the rampant paranoia that gripped the Nation at the time, apart from all that, that decade is repeated and pined for more than one might think in this 21st Century America…

But is that not what makes this country great in the first place? The fact that it keeps reinventing itself decade after young decade? We are never stale, this UnitedStates of America, recalling that it is clearly our diversity that makes this so. We take the good from every decade, leaving the ‘bad’ behind. (unless you are Bill O’Reilly of FOX). With every step forward–be it police body cameras or lifting a fifty year old embargo on spare parts for a ‘car’ that was long overdue for a tune up–this country becomes more of that BEACON it was born to be, namely an example to the world, and we should never forget that as a country. Leaders concerned with human beings just trying to live, love, laugh, cry on occasion, eventually giving back to the people who make it all happen…our community. A righteous cycle indeed.

Community is inclusive, not exclusive. When we look at the TV and see our brothers and sisters in Cuba driving around in a 1957 Chevy, hundreds of them, Fords too, driving around on an island that looks as if ‘time’ stood still, taking in images of John F. Kennedy, remembering those horrific 13 days when we did not know if there was going to be a ‘tomorrow’ (please Google “Cuban Missal Crisis, October 22, 1962), we should be grateful this country has turned out as good as it really has, even with all it’s faults, it is still a great Nation. As the silent horse states at 12:30 a.m. every night on CBS, ‘…Your future’s just tomorrow, yesterday!’ (credit “The Late, Late Show” with outgoing host Craig Ferguson, well done sir!).

That ‘tomorrow’ looks like it does outside of your own window this early a.m., quite different than it did in 1957, and for that, this reporter is eternally grateful. For we all complain about ‘the state of the world’, none so much as those filthy, dirty, hippies; the ‘tree huggin’ types, you know who you are, present company included. But for all that complaining, deep down is gratitude. At least we live in a country where we can make a movie about a little dictator in a little country that is also frozen in ‘time’, North Korea, and even if it did not ‘work out’ for Sony, I’m sure all of the ‘uproar’ in Hollywood about ‘taking a stand’ against, what are we taking a stand against? Oppression? No? Censorship and terrorism? I see. Even though we will eventually find the ‘right answer’ to this outrageous hacking of information in the world of cyberspace, a journey that goes nowhere save away from true love and redwoods, at least you can sit back and real eyes that you do not live in either Cuba or North Korea. That you and yours can enjoy this beautiful Christmas season, ooops, “Holiday Season” rather, in a wealthy country called the United States. And know you really are quite safe in the universe, taking a break from all the ‘outrage’ and violence on the TV machine, taking in some eggnog instead. I mean come on! It’s not all a drag. There’s always NASCAR if you get really bored!

Have a great week end and enjoy the LIGHT of the season, perhaps sending some to those darkened corners of the world that need it the most. Knowing that we are all connected somehow and that darkness is just an illusion, a fact illuminated by that very illumination.

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 18, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cool, overcast, misty island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Thursday morning, the 18th day of December, 2014, just a few days before the big day where kids ranging in age from two to ninety-two await what may be in Santa’s Sleigh… Who knows?

I am just grateful that I watched Ari Melber filling in for Chris Hayes’ on MSNBC’s “All IN” last night– (weeknights at eight sharp, followed by “TRMS” at nine and “The Last Word”, with Lawrence O’Donnell at ten p.m., eastern… not a paid AD, rather a plug for these venerable shows, as they offer what the old Mike Wallace style “60 Minutes” offered it’s audience–THE TRUTH), informed of not only the historic move by President Obama late yesterday,normalizing relations with the island nation of Cuba (first time since Fidel Castro staged a coup, laying claim to the Cuban government in 1959. Relations decimated in 1961 with President Jack Kennedy’s attempted overthrow of the Cuban dictator, via a covert CIA backed rebel operation that became known as “The Bay of Pigs”. An exercise that failed on a world wide stage as Castro called to the former Soviet Union’s Premier Khrushchev for help, fearing after the “Mongoose” raids Cuba was ripe for a hostile occupation by the U.S.. The ship only to be righted, if you will, on October 22, 1962 (13 days of a very real nuclear standoff, the nation and world in stark fear), when President Kennedy and his brother Bobby stood tall against the naked aggression of the then Soviet Union, attempting to deliver those nuclear missals to that island state, the whole world truly watching in a state of paralytic fear…

In fact, if it were not for the heroic efforts of then President John F. Kennedy, there is a very distinct possibility none of us would be here right now, and not that unlike the very gutsy move by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who stood up for the scientists by stating he was not one when it came to the age old question of whether precious ‘jobs’ and PROFIT (that come from dirty, polluting fracking practices), are more important than public health and the environment. Governor Cuomo chose the latter.

You may ask, “…what do these two events really have in common?”. Plenty. The oil and gas industry per OUR elected government–for at least the past decade, especially when it comes to this horrible FRACKING for ‘natural gas’ (Methane)–have been putting the burden of proof (whether FRACKING is destroying the air, water and soil; ruining people’s health, the health of the animals that share this planet with us–the overall environment itself for future generations), on it’s citizens, not those corporations who heretofore have been writing the legislation via A.L.E.C. (please Google at your convenience!). Like the Soviets back in the early sixties attempting to place a nuclear threat at the foot of this great country of ours, the big oil and gas companies have been running rough shod over the ordinary citizens who unbeknownst to them, have been hoodwinked into believing that ‘natural gas’ is the ‘way to go’, being wicked clean and all. Hor$e$hit! Ask the good people of Rifle, Colorado! They’ll tell ya how ’safe’ the water is, lighting up the lovely remodeled bathroom’s boudoir with a cool blue flame if you put a match anywhere near it!

The State of New York has effectively BANNED fracking, ushering in an historic day for environmental movements all across this great country of ours, a true GRASS ROOTS movement designed to keep WATER at the forefront of OUR collective consciousness, demanding that WE do the right thing for our children and our children’s children. Allowing them to grow up in a world where there kitchen sink does not represent a circus trick; a bad joke lighting up when you put a lighter to it. Methane being very flammable and toxic to any living thing if breathed in for an extended period of ‘time’.

Stay tuned, for FRACKING is not going away anytime soon. However, yesterday the paradigm shifted–BIG TIME. No longer is the burden of proof, the epic responsibility, laid at the feet of ordinary citizens to stand up to billion dollar corporations when it comes to how much pollution is REALLY poisoning our air, water and soil. Since 2008–certainly since this all started with former U.S. VPDick Cheney’s “Halliburton Loophole of 2005″ (opening up public land in Wyoming to hydraulic fracturing of shale rock to attain the methane trapped within said rock, the beginning of the fracking boom)–there has been scant to no peer reviewed papers on this subject of fracking, let alone any real look see into what those 700 or so fracking chemicals really are (and how they interact with the overall environment) all about.

What’s with all the secrecy ExxonMobil? and the rest of ‘the fracking brotherhood’?

As of today, according to the great environmentalist/documentary artist Josh Fox, creator of the must see HBO film(s), “Gasland and Gasland II”, there is a peer reviewed paper produced–about fracking and it’s impact on the overall environment–about once a day now, with over 400 written thus far, creating a REAL force that WILL change this industry forever, cleaning up this whole fracking mess before ALL of this nations’ water supplies are tainted beyond ‘repair’–WATER=LIFE morons, got it?

…Stay tuned! Same bat time, same bat channel my friends!

So there you have it folks! A good day to be an American! Chalk one up for the good guys! Sea Cape Cod salutes you and wishes you and yours a very Happy Holiday indeed. And thank you Ari Melber, fill in host of the year at MSNBC, I hope you get your own show someday soon, Merry Christmas!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 17, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the drizzly, foggy and mild island of Nantucket! Great to be with you and yours on this Wednesday, the 17th day of December, 2014, another rain event on Cape, with three storms expected over the next week or so, keeping shoppers and carolers alike in need of some quality foul weather gear, especially if ye be going out on the yacht today,small craft advisory and all matey.

Hollywood is still all a flutter this morning over the hacking of Sony Pictures, moreover, the controversy and cancellation of one of it’s new releases, “The Interview”, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, both celebrity and movie being put on hold for the moment, with safety concerns getting top billing at present.

This has, of course, evoked memories of the old Bush Administration “threat level” alerts, going from crazy orange to crazier red in a Texas minute, you betcha!, as the group responsible for the attacks “Guardians of the Peace”, evoked the phrase, “…September 11″, threatening that if Sony released the picture world wide, it may come with possible attacks on U.S. theaters playing the film–a threat discounted by Homeland Security–which of course has everybody saying, “…we are not going to cower to terrorists”, ironically the premise of the comedy in the first place, in fact, the premise being one of ‘taking out’ the leader of North Korea, joking of course. Poking fun at the rather ridiculous baby leader of a very Orwellian like nation, North Korea, who I am sure is just starving for some attention seeing that there are no more American hostages in that dark, depressing and very paranoid nation state. Former Detroit Piston and international deliverer of Jack Daniels and other top shelf liquors, Dennis Rodman, opting out of seeing his old buddy Kim Jong-un, claiming he’s busy catching some ‘killer waves’ at ‘the Wedge’ in Newport Beach, way to busy decorating the beach house for Christmas to get all caught up in this little misunderstanding between Sony Pictures and the People’s Republic of North Korea… Good call Dennis.

The film’s release on Christmas day, along with the premier (and all press junkets for the stars of the film), have been cancelled, begging the question in this day and age of in your face digital reality, a reality that is stripping the walls from the seeming separateness that exists between human beings, who’s next?

For it truly is a brave new world, where even the police will be under some kind of camera ’surveillance’… Assuming the good police officers don’t turn off the newly approved police body cameras and public defenders have equal access to the content, UN-edited content mind you. This IS a brave new world of transparency, so we all better get used to it.

Very little will be kept in secret in the coming years, with no one in the clear, no one truly unaffected. Just like Global Warming, this security will be challenging and thus, keep everyone on their collective toes, perhaps realizing that we are really all in this together and that kind words go a whole lot further than damaging ones do. So unplug America and start writing like many of us still do! The old fashioned way, with a pen and paper. Write a someone you love a Christmas card on recycled paper of course, perhaps lonely old Kim Jong-un? Merry Christmas dear leader, Merry Christmas!

Emails, Facebook, Twitter, Insta-Gram, My Space? All now privy to curious eyes with nothing better to do, the NSA?, who apparently can read this blog with no problem as I write it, just kidding, ?, but have no idea who hacked Sony, a company now reeling from embarrassing executive commentary to the actual cancellation of a much anticipated film, even if that film is probably noton par with say an “Out of Africa”.

So there you have it folks! Good luck to all crooked politicians, bankers, polluters and bushwhackers out there in this Wild, Wild West we all seem to be living in at present. Everyone running around in sixth gear, rarely stopping long enough to smell the pine scent of that tree adorning your home, the very symbol of Peace, Joy and Love that this season is all about. Even if that moment is short, take it anyway. It will grow in ‘time’ and eventually become the reality that it is, pealing back the curtain of the illusion many of us still cling to, illusions of our own making. Illusions being the bread and butter of FOX “news”…

Art imitating life once again, or is it the other way around?

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 15, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the sunny, seasonal and slum free island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this gorgeous Monday morning, with that bright light in the sky blazing full on the lovely Hyannis Harbor,‘and as you can SEA above matey, ’tis going to be fair sailin’ day; what with the good ship lollypop continuing on down the credit swap road to bust the road we (the United States/World Economies) were all on before…, but don’t ye worry thine little head about it ‘at ‘tal, for the streets of Wall never lie, nor do they sleep, knowing very little of the spirit of Christmas that all men secretly seek, ever fearing the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present or Christmas Future…

The U.S. Senate did pass that bill, “Cromnibus”, a 1.1 Trillion dollar spending bill that keeps the lights on ’till next Christmas basically, what they call an appropriations bill with a whole lot of gravy on board for big banks, big campaign donors and I suppose those THC types who live, work, play? in D.C., shooting down another right the ‘citizens’ of that district apparently are not afforded like other citizens who have the right to VOTE and have their collective WILLS acted upon accordingly.

This reflects the new normal when the word ‘compromise’ is used. Things are so far out of whack that when the ‘means’ justify the ‘ends’ (see torture/Dick Cheney/Iraq war/black site prisons/more torture/lying to Congress/lying to American people/The Hague, The Netherlands), and almost fifty percent of ‘the American people’ buy into that horrible reality of what happened in our name during those lovely Bush years, yes, a true testament to the power of a Fox (no offense to real foxes living right here on Cape). If those same American people were actually privy to the vile details of the 6.3 million document, 6000 page report on “EIT’s” or ‘enhanced interrogation techniques, created in a span of five years, yes, if they actually looked into that I imagine they would come to a much different conclusion than they do on FOX “news”.

There is the age old question now circulating among people who have half a brain, yes, questioning WHY was Dick Cheney, a former U.S. Vice President and current war criminal, on the“Meet the Press”, just this past Sunday? “Meet” the press, only on NBC–please stop with the dog stories already Brian, how ’bout some more stories on how SPAM is not only a healthy meal, but is just delicious? Just kidding, Merry Christmas to you and to all at NBC–I mean come on! This guy has been old news for how long? I just did the math, yeah, it’s six years plus, ago, hello! “…I’d do again in a minute”, snarled the former VP and I am sure he means what he says.

Good Luck with that one up at the Pearly Gates my man! REPENT? Never!

Last but not least, I would like to point out that “every day people” (311 million STRONG!) is WHY we have a democracy called ‘the United States of America’ (with a little letter ‘d’), and if we, collectively, don’t want that any more, than why not just come out and say so. The 120 or so cities that protested this past Saturday and Sunday the untimely and some would say criminal/homicidal ending of the lives of 12 year old Tamir Rice, 18 year old Michael Brown, and 43 year old Eric Garner–eulogized with so many more–all beginning with Trayvon Martin only a few years back, were all duly noted by the national media. As in really no coverage whatsoever.

In fact, it only received a few seconds on ABC, a mere ‘well, more protests again in…’, but NBC actually adding some value by adding three real voices (perspectives) to the problem of policing and black youth in this 21st Century America. There are so many socioeconomic factors that must be addressed before any solution is found, but none so much as the central question of “do we want a democracy anymore?”. If we don’t, I’m looking at you creators of this ‘fake grass roots party!’ You know who you are!

The ‘men behind the curtain’…

Or should we just throw in the towel and let the winning plutocrat of the decade rule our lives, taking all the good from this country, while giving nothing back. Lo, destroying it’s natural wonder one fracking well head at a time. Profiting the few.

Leaving the rest of US twisting in the ever growing (in power, scope, intensity and speed) WINDS! That is what pirates do sir! It’s called high stakes/high brow LOOTING! PLUNDERING? PROFIT over people? All of the above!

The country is rigged, evidenced by that aforementioned vote in Congress over the week end, a vote written and manipulated into LAW by the big banks–CITIgroupand JP Morgan,Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. I don’t blame President Obama, he knew this was the best chance to get a deal before the blood thirsty Ted Cruz’s get into power come January. Again, Merry Christmas Mr. President!

There are no more heroes in Washington anymore. Save one perhaps. We shall SEA. Have a great day everybody, remembering those ‘everyday people’ when you are out and about this busy holiday season. Perhaps throwing a buck or TWO into a homeless person’s hat. You would be heartbroken if you really KNEW what they may have gone through to get to that lowly point. BE safe, be well and be good, for goodness sakes!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 12, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the sunny, cold and very happy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you and yours on this 12th day of Christmas, I mean December, 2014, a beautiful day here at the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), taking in what nature is giving by golly, for the sun has made an appearance, at least for a little while this early Friday morning, with most of this little sand bar and the region not seen much in the way of that big, fiery ball in the sky for quite some time, as we brace for more unsettling weather to come…

But who cares right? Wall Street and the big banks won the day yesterday and proved that this ’system’ is rigged, democracy with a little letter ‘d’ dying a slow, painful death? And favors, lo, cows to the wealthy and their desires, to the tune of a 1.1 Trillion dollar (spending) “Cromnibus” bill that will fund the government through September of next year. The President lobbied for it’s passage, as they know the new U.S. Congress, “the fightin’ 114th!” (credit Stephen Colbert–bon chance sir!), will be even more ‘conservative’, thereby more apt to want to ’shrink that government down to the size where they could drown it in a bathtub’ (credit GOP tax henchman Grover, “fuck the poor”, Norquist), thus, will not likely help President Barack Obama do much of anything unless it helps out the overlords that are driving that fancy King Lear Jet GOP bus these days…

You see, it seems hostage taking has taken on a whole new level (the “American people” seemingly caught up in a modern day, Orwellian like Stockholm Syndrome, where it’s victims feel sorry for their abusers, captors, ‘friends’ in Washington…, ever voting against their own best interests, please Google), a new look as it were, changing into the wolves they already are, seductively exposing themselves by placing a ‘rider’ in an appropriations bill (spending bill), such as the little provision that will effectively insure them again if they gamble with ‘them credit default swaps’, all by way of gutting the financial reform law put in place (Dodd-Frank) to stop what happened in 2008, namely the giant U.S. stock crash, credit freeze world wide and the overall meltdown of big. bad investment banks who bet the farm on the whole ‘concept’ of sub-prime mortgages, what could go wrong there?, all bundled up crap that they told their ‘investors’ was ‘really good stuff’ AAA!, all while betting against the hor$e$hit, along with the infinite number of fancy ‘derivatives’ or ‘credit default swaps’, effectively turning Wall Street into Vegas. A meltdown that drained trillions out of everyday American’s 401(k)’s, robbed pension funds and almost destroyed the U.S. and world economies. The escalation of deregulation, coming on the heals of the elimination (by then President Bill Clinton), of the Glass-Steagall Act (credit our late, great U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, circa 1933), which before it’s repeal in 1999, kept banks and investment banks separate, thus keeping the public safe from risky and unorthodox banking practices. Not to mention giant tax payer bailouts! Bailouts that make the problem worse, not better!

Keeping all that in mind, the lack of regulation on the stock market during the Bush years was evident for all to see. So it came as no surprise when investment firms came to the Federal government for help in Autumn of 2008. WE, the American tax payer, bailed those greedy bastards out, to the tune of 800 billion dollars. Money that was paid back, big deal, anyone could pay back money if you can get a loan for .001 percent interest, turn around and lend it at 20! Genius, where do I sign up? But Wall Street and it’s class have made out like bandits in the past 40 years, with incomes going up by at least 278 percent. The little man on Main Street however, has seen his or her wages go up by maybe a one, two, maybe three percent, while the ratio between CEO pay and the little man is only growing wider. The microcosm of the macro-cosmic GRAND CANYON GAP between the haves and the have nots. Unsustainable for a democracy in the long term baby!

The reason our great Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was so upset yesterday (and still is I imagine)–almost pulling it off, screaming at her colleagues to stop that horrible spending bill from passing into law, a bill that was held hostage once again by the plutocrats who are clearly running the show…(chalk full of other giveaways to the GOP, such as increasing the donation maximum one can give to well over 300,000 dollars, ten times what it is now, leaving those not considered part of ‘the donor class’ SOL. Their voices not really all that relevant now are they? Kinda like the Israeli Army versus Gaza peasants fighting with rocks and sticks, no?)–is simple. ‘Tis a bill that will keep the American tax payer on the hook for any and all risky behavior going on in and around the dark and shadow filled corners of Wall Street, for many, many years to come…

Bail outs for Wall Street good, bailouts for Main Street bad. Speaker only pawn in game of life…

In other words this move–a bill WRITTEN by CITI, via A.L.E.C.–will make bank, if you will pardon the pun. For those big banks will begin betting against it’s own clients, just like Goldman Sachs famously did back in well, most of their investment banking career?, most notably getting busted for it in 2008, and when another man made crisis happens, and it most certainly will, when something blows up because of these little men and their never ending greed, never ending LUST for money, the REAL root of all evil, yes, when all that crap goes down, the poor man and woman, slaving away for $7.25 an hour, will be working off the next bail out say two bucks out of that seven. What say you senior analyst at the corporate McDonald’s in New Jersey? Do you think that is a TRUE Republican position? An insurance policy; a set up for another tax payer bailout? Good boy!

Have a nice week end folks and “be safe out there amongst the English!” (credit the film “Witness”, starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, circa 1985).

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 10, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the still misty, foggy and unsettled island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Wednesday morning, the 10th day of December, 2014, drying out a bit from what winter storm (named by Al Roker?) “Damon” dished out yesterday, with the Hyannis/Hyannis PortWaterfront experiencing 60 plus mile-per-hour gusts along with drenching rains, as the eye of the winter hurricane passed right over head, sun splashing down from the Heavens as dark clouds encircled the quickly fading light; heavy sheets of water raining down once again with authority…

An apropos weather day all along the eastern seaboard, what with the releasing of the much anticipated U.S. Senate report on CIA secrets, lies, torture, black sight prisons and, oh yeah, more torture back during the ‘good old days’ of the Bush Administration, circa 2001-2009. It seems old Dick Cheney, former U.S. Vice President under then President George W. Bush, had the whole torture thing pretty wired, hence the man size safe in his office in D.C., opening up this great nation to torturing it’s prisoners like, well, take your historical pick. Genghis Khan?

George Tenet, former CIA Director (during the “enhanced interrogation methods” commenced after the attacks on September 11th, 2001, sometime in 2002), professed profusely to CBS’ “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley that it, the torture, was not torture and that it was vital for ‘keeping people from coming to kill your family’. A sentiment echoed by President Bush in 2006, where he said the same thing to NBC’s Matt Lauer, stating, “…hey Matt, I know you have a family, this torture thing see, did I say torture? I mean ‘enhanced interrogation’, yeah, you see, I can’t get into the specifics, but it was told to me that all this stuff we are not doing, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, is legal see, Cheney, I mean Tenet told me as much, and gosh darn it, look at the time, have you had lunch Matt?’…

And so it went right up until Bush left office in 2009, and after the Senate found out that the CIA had LIED on a whole myriad of topics–none so high as the fact they, the Senate, was being spied on while investigating the CIA in 2014–a bipartisan effort was put forward to investigate what had become more than just another government agency, it had become the government. With Dick Cheney calling the shots. Of course, the bipartisan committee investigating the whole sordid affair was not authorized to investigate the White House, because the Republicans would not allow it, thus, producing this six million plus document behemoth–chalk full of fun torture facts that would blow your socks off. Although I would highly recommend viewing before eating anything, the content will make you physically sick to your stomach.

Safe to say ‘the CIA has no leg to stand on’ and that the release of this report makes this a good day for America. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), the chair on this oversight committee of our nation’s spy agency, the CIA, should be congratulated for her efforts to expose this sort of horrible behavior on the part of OUR government, while simultaneously implementing new rules (hopefully LAWS someday soon), that will prevent this from happening again. To the people who say we should torture our prisoners to ‘keep American safe’, and that it ‘works’, I say look at the report and the FACTS before blowing your horn. I say that very act of torture makes us just as bad as our ‘enemies’–many defined by that term erroneously, just ordinary people caught up in some illegal war game the Bush/Cheney Administration cooked up to what? Bolster Dick’s retirement coffers via kick backs from Halliburton (defense contractor where Dick Cheney was CEO prior to W.’s rise to glory)?, is that it? Or was it personal on Bush’s part? Or were they just bored plutocrats out to make some trouble and a ‘name’ for themselves as what, “Liberators”?

Who knows and who cares! The real history books, written by scholars, will show beyond the shadow of a CIA doubt, that the combination of the folly of the illegal Iraq War, the black sight prisons all over the world–not to mention the fact none of this crap was paid for, all put on ‘the credit card of the American people to the tune of 4.1 Trillion when all is said and done in both Afghanistan and Iraq; oh, and all of that blood, both American and Iraqi/Afghan, that was spilled–and the disgusting, prominent, rampant torture by CIA operatives, all under the constant, watchful eye of the Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, yes, the real history books will PROVE that the ‘winners’ in this story were not those washed up politicians aforementioned, or their LYING chief operatives at the CIA like George Tenet, no sir, the real winners are the Americanpeople today. They have been given the gift of nature’s best disinfectant, SUNSHINE, for they will now know what we are capable of as a country, hence, be an ever vigilant LIGHT shining on the wheels of government, checking the people in power at present… Making sure those wheels don’t fly off and do what they wish to, thinking that they (people like Dick Cheney and George Tenant) have absolute power. When in fact that power was given to them by the American public to wit those history books will prove you betrayed that TRUST, broke it in half rather…

Colonel Jack Wilkerson, former top aide to great General Colin Powell, the 65th U.S. Secretary of State, under the Bush Administration, stated on “All IN”,with Chris Hayes (weeknights’ eight p.m. eastern, only on MSNBC) last night, “…George Tenant flat out lied! They ALL lied about the secret CIA program(s), going all the way up to the top, to Richard B. Cheney”. And he should know, he was in on the ground floor of this whole dirty debacle in the early 2000’s… A decade that many, including this reporter, would like to forget.

Have a nice day folks, steering clear of the fracking fluid they are serving over at FOX & Friends this a.m.. It’s not only glowing, but it is chalk full of over 700 deadly chemicals that don’t cause cancer. So drink up America and pull up a chair at your own risk… Steve Ducey and that insane gang has got some bat $hit crazy stories to tell ya! HO, HO, HO!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 8, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cold, calm, soon to be stormy once again island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 8th day of December, 2014, a Monday to be sure, as the Nantucket Christmas Stroll wrapped up for another year; thousands taking the journey from Cape Cod’s hub of Hyannis–30 nautical miles south/southeast–to a fairy tale island that time forgot. To a quaint little place where all is forever forgiven–fabulously rich beyond one’s wildest imagination…

New data just out on Friday indicates that this year, 2014, is the best year for jobs numbers since the heady days of the go go 90’s, the days of Bill Clinton. After taking over in January 2009, dusting the country off what was deemed as the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression that began with ‘the Crash of 1929′, a young newly elected Senator now President began to climb upward and onward… 1929 fall from grace was the great economic and social spiral that took this country down a path of wicked austerity and blight for the next seven plus years. The late, great former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt taking control, not only turning the tide, but reforming the nation as well, making it ‘a more perfect union’ for the average person…

Yes, after taking over from President George W. Bush in 2009, American jobs hemorrhaging at the clip of 700,000 per week, newly elected President Barack Obama began the ascent back to the top of the MOUNTAIN, and as of this past week it seems that more jobs have been created this year than in any year of the Bush one or Bush two presidencies. AP just wrote, “…job gains put U.S. on pace for best growth since 1999.”

“Boom like numbers!”

The Washington Post added, “…this is what a real recovery looks like.” The New York Times headlining, “These are the best numbers in months, maybe years“, going on to state in an article, “…Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from your friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics!”, adding in another “…more jobs and higher wages, U.S. recovery hits home.” Quoting a Wall Street executive saying, “…in one line, spectacular!”.

So before you send Obama some negative energy this Christmas season, here is a ten fold list of ‘nice’ things our very fine 44th U.S. President has done for this great country of OURS, none so high as the fact we are not engaged in any horrible land war at present, nor are we going to be any time soon. “Praise be to God!”…

1. 10 months in a row of job growth with 200,000 or more jobs created.

2. Big picture: AP states, “…the 321,000 jobs added in November, most in three years, is the latest evidence that the United States is out performing other economies throughout the developed world.

3. the price of gas is at a five year low, many U.S. gas stations coming in at less than $2 a gallon! Helping the average American consumer with a savings of over $600 in the coming year alone!

4. Actual wages are going up, not down, as well as corporate earnings and executive compensation– (CEO/average employee salary ratio still far out of wack, but hey, it’s progress no?–the Dow Jones Industrial Average poised to hit 18,000 for first time in it’s history (fingers crossed Goldman Sachs, you know I’m rooting for ya!)…

5. Health care spending (once out of control and unsustainable) in the U.S. (in 2013) grew slower than in any time in more than 50 years! Unheard of and one of those non-sexy details of “Obamacare”, or what it really IS, the AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, now LAW in the U.S. for good, by gosh by golly! “…the number of uninsured non-elderly adults fell by an estimated 10.6 million people, between September 2013 and September 2014, a drop of 30.1 percent in the uninsured rate.

Beyond the U.S. Economy…

these are the other checks off the ‘to do list’ President Obama has accomplished just since the election…

6. Obama negotiated (in secret for months) an HISTORIC signing of a far reaching, ‘huge’, and quite unexpected Climate Change deal with the now largest emitter of green house gasses, China, with far reaching (hopefully) consequences (good ones) for our very fragile and last time I checked, ONE, environment.

7. Secret mission to North Korea to free the last remaining U.S. hostage being held prisoner by that 1984 Orwellian nightmare of a country, just ask James Franco and Seth Rogen, they’ll tell ya! Kim Jong Un, (spelling?), you so crazy!

8. The ‘horrible scourge of Benghazi’, another Obama Waterloo if you will, was quietly and deliberately put out of it’s misery late on Friday’s news dump of the day, and if you listen really hard you can hear the sound of Darrell Issa playing taps on his lonely bugle…as the ‘committee’ on the “scandal” that the tragedy of the deaths of four Americans, including a U.S. Ambassador, decided that it was just that stating, “…second, the committee finds that there was no intelligence failure prior to the attack”. Adding in a private scribbling, “…sorry we did not spend all those millions upon millions of tax payer dollars on feeding some of this country’s poor.” We are the GOP and we don’t care though, so there’s that…

9. Obama has freed 5 million human beings from living in the shadows, fearing deportation every time they step out of the family’s door, therefore, because of Obama’s Executive Action, when Congress would not act, those five million plus families will have a much nicer Christmas than they would have if that cloud was still hovering over them. Another example of the GOP being out to lunch on so many issues. Case in point, another Senator from Oklahoma who will remain nameless, stating to press after the decision a day or two after the midterms, telling the USA Today, “…GOP Senator warns of violence after immigration order.” Wrong again Senator, wrong again.

10. Obama has managed to turn this whole ‘losing the midterms’ into his benefit, going on the offensive for a change, as the GOP’s schizophrenia goes into overdrive. The truly crazy periodical? “Red State”, is it a blog? Is it a website? Is it a gift from God? “I thought you said it was a gift from God?” “That was when you were my son!” (credit the film, “Flirting with Disaster”, circa 1996, starring Ben Stiller,Tea Leoni), anyway, whatever “that” is, wrote an article the other day that pretty much sums up this schism between what the plutocrats want their puppets to do (i.e. Ted Cruz and the like) and what actual independent thinking GOP members want to do for this country for a change. “…The Republicans in Congress hate the American people. Just like the Democrats.” Going on to say, “…Representative John Boehner hate your guts people! You are neither a lobbyist, nor a cigarette, so you have no use for him.“ Ouch.

The fake grass roots tea party nut jobs like Senator Ted Cruz of the great state of Texas and about 30-40 other puppets will attempt to shut this U.S. government down in five days. As Rachel Maddow (host of the great TRMS, weeknights at 9 p.m. eastern, only on MSNBC), put it on her show, “…watch this space.” Thanks for all of that information too Rachel, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours! That goes for all who speak for the ‘little people’ in this great land of ours, one that must be watched constantly, lest we lose that little letter ‘d’ at the beginning of that word democracy, a society where one man (or one woman) equals one VOTE! And a land where all are EQUAL under the LAW.

No one being above it, especially those sworn to ‘protect and serve’…

Have a wonderful week ahead folks and ‘May the Force be with you’ as you get ready for the upcoming holiday energies! Don’t let those negative ones get in the way of the true meaning of the word Noel.

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 6, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the soon to be stormy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Saturday morning, the 6th day of December, 2014, a quiet morning here at the Hyannis/Hyannis PortWaterfront(s), but that will change soon, as the rains and snows begin to blow in from the west, adding to the charm that is this week end’s “Nantucket Christmas Stroll” where you can enjoy a cocktail or two whilst singing some carols and perhaps having a conversation with a talking tree. But, please, leave your backpack at home, won’t you?

‘The instigators of the original Nantucket Christmas Stroll were merely trying to prevent islanders from escaping to Cape Cod, 30 miles across the Sound, to do their holiday shopping. Rewind to the year 1973, a year when local merchants, in an effort to boost the islands holiday purse, kept shops open late the first Friday in December, inviting locals to holiday shop on-island. That initial stroll, christened by merchants as a “Christmas Shoppers Stroll” (the first black Friday?), a mere three hours in duration, was proclaimed a huge success. Shopkeepers entertained shoppers with wine, hot chocolate, tea, mulled cider, fruitcake, and holiday cookies while they perused crafts, books, clothes and wares, and other holiday gift items. In subsequent years, the event grew exponentially, drawing larger crowds until it became a nationally-and then internationally-renowned holiday event. This years Nantucket Christmas Stroll, with a theme of “A Victorian Christmas”, will feature 160 seven-foot-decorated holiday trees (sporting new, energy saving LED lights sponsored by ReMain Nantucket, not a paid Ad by the way!) mounted throughout the downtown area (right next to the security cameras!). Local artists Deb Sosebee and Donna Elle will decorate the 20-foot “Talking Tree” (Saturday 1-3 p.m., so don’t miss your chance to ask some questions OK?), at the top of Main Street with homemade Victorian-style ornaments. Visitors are encouraged to participate in a Victorian Costume Contest, and winners will be awarded ribbons on the Main Street Stage just before 2 p.m.

I think the statement by “Yesterday’s Island, Today’s Nantucket” speaks for itself. “Tis the season to dress up like Queen Victoria of 19th Century England by golly! Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas Nantucket! I do love thee so… Although, I will be there today to speak with that marvelous tree, asking some points of parliamentary procedure, such as, “…why are you celebrating the “Victorians”, circa 1837-1901? Is it a mirror to the present in 21st Century America? As the Victorian period in Britain was one of huge industrial and technological change, shocking divisions between the rich and poor, sensational crimes, spectacular entertainments for the masses, like you, you ‘talking tree’ you, and grand attempts to combat squalor and disease… Thank you for making it all so clear “Talking Tree”, I hope you too have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year, both you and the rest of the natural world!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 5, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the starry, cool island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Friday morning, the 5th day of December, 2014, expecting another beautiful morning before the rains/snows come in once again. Quite an active weather pattern don’t you think Mr. Inhofe? I should think you will do a splendid job come January, Chairing the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee and all, we are so proud in Oklahoma! Especially ’cause your not “one of them unreasonable radical, left wing, liberal, dirty, filthy, hippy agitators” (credit the film “The Graduate”, circa 1967), believing in that global warmin’ crap and all,no sir!

You are one of us, the truly ignorant, uninformed Rush Limbaugh hater/listener, who has been instructed to not believe his or her own eyes (nor the many voices in his head), while viewing the news last night on corporate owned TV news station, coast to coast, with the head of the NYPD police union (what’s his name?) spouting off about the ‘fact’ that there was no choke hold on the late Eric Garner, no, ‘that was one of them fancy college wrestling moves the perp, I mean cop learned from his brother who attended Princeton’.

Yep, it’s Christmas season! Ho, Ho, Ho! You can tell because the past couple of nights in New York City has been just crazy! In fact the reaction to the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, an 84 foot Norwegian Blue Spruce, was really up this year, I mean with all of those people running around malls saying they can’t breathe and something about ‘NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE’, really, I thought the whole off Broadway show was a bit much for the kids who were just trying to catch a glimpse of the tree, but hey, at least it was spirited. I too had a hard time catching my breath after the shopping spree at Bloomingdale’s, don’t even get me started on Macy’s…’

You can’t force someone to change their heart. No more than you can change the weather. If a comet were hurtling towards earth at this precise moment, there would be room for some concern, no? But 400 parts per million of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere now (not that high since the days of ‘The Flintstones’, you know, roughly 6000 years ago Mitch?!), that little cataclysmic FACT can be ignored. Even though it may be tough to book a room for the next Winter Olympics. But denial is everywhere these days is it not?

The fact that the NYPD’s union went on TV last night telling us all (with their collective lack of a neck), that there ‘is nothing to see here folks’, that your eyes don’t work so good and you should have your head examined for even thinking about questioning one of our ‘model’ (their exact words) police officers who went above and beyond the call of duty by taking out that…oh, we’re not doing that? But we rehearsed it at the station? OK, I get it, it’s Christmas time, OK. What I was saying is that I am very proud of our boys in blue. America’s finest and no matter what that De Blasio says, we don’t use choke holds no more (thousands of complaints in New York City this year alone regarding these deadly choke holds banned in 1993 by the NYPD–unbeknownst to them apparently), we get it. And we will try to be more, what’s that words? Oh yeah, sensitive and compassionate about people’s feelings and such, especially during this mourning period of major loss for the African-American community, not only in New York, but in Ferguson and all across this great land of ours, bringing us together in peace, community and a common purpose of living and thriving in the greatest city in the world.” How was that? Do you think they bought it? I hope so, because I worked on that speech all day. Forget about it….

May you all have a beautiful week end, hopefully turning off all of this unrest in this wonderful country of ours; praying to a bowl of oatmeal if you have to that somehow we must all learn to live with one another without killing one another. Really, not that hard of a bar to clear…

All of the lesser angels of our makeup as human beings—anger, rage, hate, jealousy, revenge, despair and hopelessness… Embracing those feelings and championing those sentiments is not what this experience on this little blue rock called Earth is all about. Quite the opposite really. Love, Joy, Peace are all attributes we all have within us and represent the higher angels of our nature. Those very virtues, real gifts from a greater force than you or I could ever define in words or any other form of communication, are the very things we hide when things get tough. Peaceful protests, over time, like the Colorado River, will cut a deep Grand Canyon through that nasty ignorance, hate, racism and fear. For what is racism anyway but ignorant fear turned inward on itself, coming out in ways of violence such as what we ALL witnessed with our OWN EYES once again in the case of that 43 year old Staten Island man, Eric Garner, may he rest in peace, who left behind a family (that is just as important as Officer fill in the blank’s), who will not be with him on Christmas morning…all because of a 50 cent cigarette?

‘Tis true that every officer of the law should be able to go home at the end of his shift, safely and in one piece, Amen, Amen I say unto you Amen. But so too should the average citizen in this here US of A. The call to arms against our own citizens is insane and will result in another Michael Brown, Tamir Rice or Eric Garner, may they all rest in peace. We must look within and guard against the easy way out–VIOLENCE & HATE.

The answer always was and always will be LOVE. Love takes work and work takes LOVE. When those two words are synonymous, well then, you might be on to something.

Again, have a great week end everybody and get out and enjoy NATURE BABY!

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 4, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the starry, cool, soon to be sunny island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this Thursday morning, the 4th day of December, 2014, a little before the six a.m. hour. The stars still shining en masse upon this little sand bar created 11,500 years ago by the Last Great Ice Age, and like many in this country–well, those who actually care about these kinds of things– tossed and turned most of the night, as the images of what happened to another African-American male in the United States of America, in this 21st Century America, kept haunting my slumber…

For yesterday, the world found out what American JUSTICE is rapidly becoming–A JOKE. Especially for African-American males, mostly under the age of 30. But in the case of Eric Garner, he was a grandfather and a father of six. You see about six months ago, a jolly forty year old black man was being harassed once again by some of NYPD’s finest, many of them are just that, allegedly selling ‘loosies’ (loose cigarettes) on a lonely street corner in one of New York City’s five boroughs, Staten Island. As the initial shakedown began, a random passerby videotaped the whole sordid affair, much to the chagrin of said NYPD.

What that video taped revealed to the world was that grandfather being taken down by an illegal (banned in 1993) choke hold by one of the officer’s in the arrest, one of nine on the scene, a choke hold that killed Eric Garner on the spot. The coroner would conclude that FACT later in the official autopsy.

The world watched that video in horror and was sure that the grand jury of 23 would find a ‘true bill’ to at least find probable cause to indict the police officer for any one of a number of crimes, especially considering that they had both a damning video and the fact that the coroner deemed the death a homicide.

Apparently there are two different sets of laws in this country–one for police officers who kill people and one for everyone else.

That IS the bottom line here folks. Please don’t you think twice about it, they don’t… Out in Cleveland–the scene of another horrible police on black crime, where a cop with glaringly bad review from his superiors (Google it if you don’t believe me!), gunned down a 12 year old boy playing with a toy gun by himself in a park, a young boy who was eulogized just yesterday as being “…full life”, hope there are a lot of snow balls in Heaven Tamir Rice! May you rest in peace!–they just buried that little boy yesterday and it has been just a little over a week since the Michael Brown ‘verdict’ out in Ferguson. Now this fiasco on ‘Static’ island.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio made a statement yesterday in New York that went a whole lot farther than ‘ole Governor Jay Nixon’s did out in St. Louis, hopefully keeping the ever growing protests as peaceful as possible. For it does no good to burn down buildings, destroy other people’s property or hurt innocent bystanders. The only way to really change things is through an all out community effort, shining a bright LIGHT from sea to shining sea, reigning in some of these out of date police force practices and policies that have turned regular urban (and some rural) settings into militarized zones, many U.S. citizens feeling as though they are captives of their own neighborhoods. Potential new victims in the town where they live, love, work and play, oh, and also pay their oppressors’ salaries. Feeling like when they step outside, it could be the last thing they do.

If we are going to keep militarizing our police forces then they should act like the military; acting honorably with a code of conduct, a code of ethics, a code of brotherhood and sisterhood-a ‘true bill’ feeling that we are all in this together, whether they like it or not.

And if they don’t–there’s the door!

Feeling like a captive and being in fear all the time is one hell of a way to feel. It truly is hell to live in fear, I should know. Citizens feeling sorry for their captors (Stockholm Syndrome) must stop. This police brutality and shooting first, asking questions later must also stop– NOW! This kind of behavior is almost Nazi like is it not?

How many more of OUR citizens must die before WE address this ongoing and ever growing problem in our society? Assuming we still want to have a society. Perhaps that is really the message here folks“…you know the score pal, if you’re not a cop, you’re one of the little people”– a line taken fromthe film “Blade Runner”, circa 1982. A ’science fiction’ movie set in future Los Angeles, where it seems Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” never got the memo because only the wealthy can afford to stay out of the elements that seem to have taken a turn for the worse…

If police are afforded the right to kill at will, with no repercussions, then what’s next? It is a slippery slope when local police forces are more powerful than the U.S. Justice Department, as they continue getting tanks, anti-aircraft missals, sub-machine guns, highly explosive, rubber bullet and chemically laden grenades and more! from that same Federal Government. All sent to these police forces setting up shop as if we are about to be invaded by Russia.

“Nothing to see here folks!!”… just another black man killed on the streets of 21st Century America. A country where the value of some piece of crap Sony “Picture” is worth so much more than the life of a poor African-American man or boy–‘one’ just playing in the park by himself on a snowy day in Cleveland, or ‘one’ standing on a corner doing something ‘illegal’ (Garner had no ‘loosies’ on him when he died), or ‘one’ just walking down the street in the sleepy little town of Ferguson, Missouri, gunned down by a ‘man just doing his job’. Hor$e$hit! This question is one for the entire nation, and one that has not been addressed to this degree since the days of Bobby Kennedy in the middle part of the tumultuous decade known as the crazy 1960’s.

Bobby Kennedy spoke out strong regarding race relationships in this country. Speaking out in a time, much like today, when it was unpopular to do so. At least among many of his white ‘brethren’ at that time. In fact, after his assassination, one of the darkest days this country has ever felt or seen, his body was transported via rail car from New York to Washington. On that sad day, all along that railroad route for a thousand miles, were people of all races, creeds, colors, religions and persuasions. Yes sir, blacks and whites lined up to say their goodbyes to a man who stood up for them, for those who could not be heard, tears overflowing for the man, much like Martin Luther King, Jr., who made it his mission to protect and speak for those who did not have a voice. Those who were vulnerable, those in needof a champion.

Perhaps someday this country will WAKE UP and smell the roses. We have, collectively, so much as a people and for the most part we all get along pretty well most will tell you on this day in early December. But for most African-Americans, that is not so. WE have a responsibility to stand up to aggression of any kind. We have to become more transparent as a country. We must make sure the people we place in positions of power do not abuse said power, and make sure the police in this nation are policed themselves, becoming more responsible with the power we bestow and can take away.

WE the People becoming more intelligent and informed about how that POWER is doled out and to who.

May the Forces of LIGHT & LOVE come upon this great, diverse and thus strong nation and heal it. Bringing it closer to some kind of understanding of what a leader is and what a leader most certainly is NOT. For if you want history to look kindly upon your life, you know, ‘at the end of the day’, take a good look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. For peace begins and ends with ‘the man in the mirror’ and nobody else.

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 3, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the soggy, and once again rather gloomy island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this warm, damp Wednesday morning, feeling the effects of a back door warm front pushing temperatures back up into the fifties, shirtsleeve weather out on the Hyannis/Hyannis PortWaterfront this 3rd day of December, 2014–trying to really get in that holiday spirit…

On Monday night’s “Last Word, with Lawrence O’Donnell” (weeknights on MSNBC, ten p.m. sharp, eastern), Lawrence exposed what many might find rather interesting, namely assistant prosecutor Kathy Alizadeh of the St. Louis Country Prosecuting Office. Who, under lead St. Louis County prosecutor “We’ll talk to Bob” McCullough, provided the grand jury responsible for not bringing charges against Officer Darren Wilson for the August 9th shooting of an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, in what has become known around the world as “FERGUSON”, with the wrong law many believe was meant to sway the jury into not gaining the nine votes needed for an indictment of any kind against the officer who 16 witnesses claim shot the boy in cold blood.

Yes, it seems that the plan all along was to “data dump” all of the evidence, truly a mountain of evidence, in front of a jury (looking at more than one case I might add) that, because of that action by prosecution (very rare indeed), were begging for some kind of direction in ‘The State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson’. But to make it even more air tight for the prosecution ironically on the side of the defendant, or not if you consider the close police ties to McCullough, the assistant prosecutor, Ms. Alizadeh, initially gave the jurors a law, or a statute, that had been rescinded back in 1985, i.e. Missouri law enforcement personal free to shoot fleeing suspects.

That’s right folks, the good people at the St. Louis County Prosecutors Office used that old, outdated version of the law right up until the end, when Kathy decided to slip in the update of what the law really states today, prompting one of the jurors on that famous grand jury to utter, “…um, does the Supreme Court & Federal Court override Missouri statutes?”, to wit Alizadeh replied, and I quote, “…oh, don’t worry about that, we don’t want to get into a law class.” Really, assistant prosecutor? I think the Federal Government and the American People might be interested in that little detail–

underhanded as it is and all.

Lawrence O’Donnell in his genius decided to send a letter to the St. Louis Prosecuting Office with three simple question regarding this epic case, many are calling the CIVIL RIGHTS’

case of our times…

So without further adieu, here are the questions that you too may find interesting. Please enjoy and have a pleasant day!

1. How many times has Ms. Alizadeh submitted the wrong law to a grand jury as it’s legal framework for an investigation?

2. How many times has the District Attorney’s Office (all of them, collectively) submitted the wrong law to a grand jury as it’s legal framework for it’s investigation?

3. Is the Michael Brown case the first time the District Attorney’s Office submitted the wrong law to a grand jury as the legal framework for it’s investigation? (the sound of crickets in the background…).

December 2, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the grey, cold, festive island of Nantucket! Great to be with you once again on this Tuesday morning, the 2nd day of December, 2014, a day much cooler than yesterday, with temperatures more in line with the season they are normally attributed to, namely, this upcoming season of Christmas and Hanukkah for many in the U.S.. A Season of Lights, this season of giving, giving hopefully less in the way of anger and more in the way of LOVE.

President Barack Obama,OUR very fine 44th President of the United States of America (history books will prove, well, those written by real historians will…), announced yesterday at the White House–after concluding a mini-summit with people intimately involved in what some are calling ‘the Civil Rights case of our times’, i.e. “Ferguson” (or what many call the lack of Justice in the shooting death of unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, on August 9th of this year, a horrible act carried out by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department, resigned, now a racial flash point sparking protests from sea to shining sea, gaining world wide attention…)–that he is putting together a special task force made up of law enforcement, community activists, clergy and other officials to deal with the problems facing everyday communities when it comes to the people and the police they, the police, are sworn to ‘protect and serve’ or is it the other way around? Many claiming that they have become the victims of quite the opposite of that sentiment, thus, braving the status quo and calling out for JUSTICE of some kind to triumph over what other might consider Gestapo like tactics–excessive force and police brutality being one of them.

The President is asking for 263 million dollars for a number of items to help in this crisis. For starters, lets get transparent, let’s get responsible, let’s get accountable! Let’s implement 50,000 body cameras that police departments nation wide will be required to wear, preventing abuse on either side as statistics in cities who already use this technology prove beyond a shadow of a doubt works like a charm. Second, there will an extensive review of all the new toys these police departments have receive–thanks to the blank checkformer President George W. Bush gave “Homeland Security”, via the “Patriot Act”–i.e. tanks, sub-machine guns, spare hand grenades with crowd dispersing chemicals, rubber bullets, who knows what else–yeah, taking a good look at that overreachthat hasmilitarizedour police forces to the point that they look like invading armies. At least it did to people with REAL EYES watching it all go down in Ferguson.

Three, Attorney General Eric Holder will address this issue of the very real threat of violence that exists between young black males in this country and the police, somehow finding solutions and how that sad, aforementioned fact can be overcome. Holder will be tasked with personally going to communities nationwide, for this is clearly not just a Ferguson, Missouri story, hence the overwhelming popular outcry from Seattle to New York, San Francisco to Boston, as young and old, black and white, stand up and say ‘hands up, don’t shoot’!

For that is what is has come down to for many young, black men today–simple survival. “…Please don’t kill me officer because I am a black man,” is not ‘going too far Joe’, because since July we have had case after case of black males being gunned down, ‘by accident?’, in at least six high profile national cases, and it does not seem like the problem is being addressed let alone solved by anyone who has any real authority, save President Barack Obama, God Bless you sir! And Bravo to the St. Louis Rams! They have a right to claim their own lives and a right to be safe in said lives Roger!

Couple those three points with better training of young officers nationwide, i.e. less gun violence, and perhaps we might get a better handle on what our society needs more than anything right now– TRUST. The simple fact that Ferguson is mostly African-American and 94 percent of the Ferguson Police Department is white, gaining most of their revenue from ‘traffic stops’ must tell you that that there is something wrong with this picture. For real policing, in and of itself, should not be a problem for anyone, especially and including the police! For it seems that policing in this 21st Century should not be ‘all about the money’, rather, should focus on what makes us all the same, being a peace loving people. Always focusing on those similarities--like that famous hug of a little boy and a police officer of Ferguson–as opposed to what makes us different, i.e. the color of our skin, a subtle difference as deep as the skin itself and just as meaningless.

Have a nice day everybody and may we find that elusive sense of peace in Ferguson, for if we can find it there, we can find it anywhere, isn’t that the song, no?

PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M

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December 1, 2014

Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the grey, gloomy and rather mild island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this December 1st, 2014–a warm Monday morning, grey too at the Hyannis/Hyannis PortWaterfront–with temperatures well into the fifties at this six a.m. hour. Apparently diving back down into the single digits soon, as that “Polar Plunge” makes it’s way eastward; ever creating havoc with these extreme whacky weather patterns (that are not patterns at all), representing a new normal that 7 billion plus people living on this little blue rock we all call Earth are just going to have to get used to. All happening as the so called ‘leaders’ in the U.S. Congress continue claiming that it’s all a big misunderstanding, a ‘hoax’ if you will. Their “logic” concluding that no one single weather event has anything to do with the empirical science surrounding the FACT Global Warming is not only REAL but it is here NOW.

And it is here to stay…

That’s right, it’s just a big misunderstanding like the under reported story of a little 12 year boy who was shot to death by another officer of the law, this time in Cleveland late last week. A little black boy (imagine if he was white “Morning Joe!”), who was all by himself playing with what amounts now to a toy gun. A boy just being a little boy in a park. Until, after a call and a botched 911 dispatch, the officers arrived on the ’scene’ and in less than 2 seconds jump out of the car, guns blazing, shooting the little boy in the chest– killing him instantly.

Never even trying to revive him.

The Sunday talk shows all covered the Ferguson case with little meat or real substance. Namely, calling it out for what it really is–a giant miscarriage of JUSTICE! Yes, putting that ‘verdict’ by the tainted grand jury of St. Louis County aside for a moment, let us call out our collective brain trust, the non biased national media, for their recent coverage of these inter-related tragedies, all involving black American males under the age of 30. Are you proud of the white wash thus far FOX “NEWS”, ABC and dare I say NBC, never mind CBS or CNN? When does the madness stop? Do black lives matter? How can society effectively change the systemic problems that contributed to the gunning down of Michael Brown on August 9th of this year?

Or better yet, WHEN?

A society never lasts long when there is too much wealth at the top. Especially in a democracy. A democracy with a little letter ‘d’. These young boys (and girls), who just happen to have skin that is a different color than their fellow ‘pale’ human beings–brothers and sisters in reality–have lost their collective childhoods’, if they ever experienced one in the first place, and are constantly in fear of the police thus, causing a vicious cycle with authority figures and a never ending pattern of violence that offers the community nothing--save the polar oppositeof peace.

In fact, most African-American males under the age of 30 most likely live in greater haunting fear than those same young people living in the war torn Gaza Strip. At least those kids are not hounded by a police presence everyday as they just try and go about becoming young men and women, you know, kids being kids. Discovering their own talents and worth, unencumbered by an ‘authority’ that is seemingly not on their side, in fact to many, looking as if they actually wish them harm.

There is a centuries old myth in this country that black males are somehow not subjected to the same feelings white people have, i.e. pain, and thus, not only are police officers but staff at hospitals brainwashed into thinking ‘these people’ don’t feel that pain the way ‘you or I do’… Therefore, treat African-American males as if they are immune to gun shot wounds and such. These “demons” (Officer Wilson’s words), are somehow superhuman when it comes to locomotives or bullets (to say nothing of skyscrapers!), as they “bulk up and get mad, running right through said bullets…”. Hogwash. These young men feel just as much as you or I do Officer Wilson, in fact, they might feel more pain than you could possibly imagine. For what is more painful that seeing your mother for one dinner a week, perhaps a few hours, while you attempt to finish grade school? Never seeing her because she is working for that big $7.25 an hour 24/7/365 just to keep the lights on (that’s before taxes! Try living on that Mitch McConnell, you knucklehead!), all while shelling most of that hard earned cash out to keep her baby in a day care (below par daycare I might add), only to come home and find out her other baby, her 12 year old boy, was shot to death by a trigger happy cop! God help this country!

Watching Officer Wilson on ABC this week end put me right off my fresh fried lobster, as he “…resigned because he was worried about other officers’ safety and the safety of the community (that his gun ripped apart), but moreover, tendering that resignation would offer that community a chance to heal.’” Are you for real Officer, “I was just doing my job”, Wilson? You better be looking for a different line of work son, perhaps the clergy?

Have a nice week ahead folks and just keep in mind that the corporate owned media mega egos out in this crazy world do not want you or yours to THINKfor yourselves, and are certainly not going to help you out in any way by offering you credible, factual information the way journalism was once offered to the American public. Case in point, the era of the late, great Walter Cronkite, whose house still resides a few miles from my own on the sleepy little island of Martha’s Vineyard–high atop a cliff in Edgartown–where, if you listen really hard, you can still hear Walter saying,